Finding Her Family
by regrets-collect93
Summary: Sophia Braeden has just experience a tragedy of the worst kind. She lost her twin brother and her mother in an accident, and she blames herself. She can't seem to accept the fact that they're gone. So what happens when someone seems to be trying to contact her? Are her mother and brother really gone, or is this just the beginning of another war with fate?
1. Are You Listening?

_Baby I have been here before  
I know this room, I've walked this floor  
I used to live alone before I knew you.  
I've seen your flag on the marble arch  
Love is not a victory march  
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah_

"Hallelujah"

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

_Sophie, let's go! You'll be late!_

Sophie Braeden sighed when she heard her aunt's voice calling her to the breakfast table. It was Saturday for goodness sake- she should be allowed to sleep in. Aunt Michelle always woke her up at the same time every morning. _The early bird catches the worm_ she'd always say. Well, sometimes Sophie didn't want to catch the worm. Sometimes Sophie just wanted to sleep the day away and do nothing, but Aunt Michelle seemed to think that if she stayed on a perfect schedule, she wouldn't lapse into her depression again; if only it were that simple.

Sophie used to be a happy girl. She was popular- the other kids loved her company. She used to be the prettiest girl in school, with her dark brown hair and chocolate eyes. Now she felt like the ugliest. It wasn't that she felt ugly on the outside. She knew her looks hadn't changed, aside from the weight loss, but inside she felt disgusting. She was no longer outgoing and bubbly. She wasn't all sunshine and happiness anymore. She felt like darkness – black smog – was taking over her very being, and she hated it. She tried talking to her aunt, but all she did was take her to see Dr. Mitchell.

Doctor Mitchell didn't really do anything. She would talk, and he would listen. When they were done, she hadn't really gotten anywhere with her so-called _treatment_. The only thing that would happen at the end of each session is that he would tell her to keep taking her prescribed medicine, and she never would. At first she did – she was a good girl. She took her pills, and they made her a zombie. She didn't realize it until she had to go a week without her medicine. She looked in the mirror and saw that her eyes were sunken in. Her skin was dull, and her lips were chapped. Her cheek bones protruded painfully, and her ribs showed when she lifted her shirt. She wasn't the _pretty girl_ anymore, and that wasn't all.

The pills put her in a fog. She was going through the motions, but she could hardly remember what she did the entire month of taking the pills, so she stopped. She put them in her mouth, and made a good show of drinking the water, but in the end she stuck them in her pocket when Aunt Michelle wasn't looking. Afterwards, she would stick them in a little box in the very top of her closet. Her aunt Michelle never looked there – she was too short to reach it. She was sick for so long after that, but eventually she got better. She was able to put on a smile, and her aunt was pleased with her improvement. The visits with Dr. Mitchell were cut back to only once every month.

Unfortunately, it was that time of the month. She would have to pretend twice as hard if she wanted to convince him that she was okay. He was good – he almost caught her a few times – but she was becoming a fabulous actress. She was practically Oscar-ready.

_Sophia Braeden, let's go! _

There she went again. Whenever Sophie heard her last name she cringed a little. Her mother was always _Miss Braeden_. Her twin brother's name was never just Ben – everyone always followed it with Braeden. It just flowed so well and now she was the only Braeden left standing. Sophie grabbed her jacket off the back of the door and moseyed down the stairs. Her aunt was standing by the front door, tapping her foot in an uneven rhythm. She sighed and put on her best half-smile. It's all she could manage right now.

"You all ready?" her aunt asked. Her tone was overly-sympathetic, and it took everything for Sophie not to rush back up the stairs to her solitude.

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go," she said.

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

Dr. Mitchell was sitting in his leather chair, staring at Sophie, and waiting for her to speak. She had absolutely no patience, and she wasn't going to break first. If he wanted her to talk, he could ask the questions. She was tired, and she had headaches. She knew that this was a bad idea about halfway to his office, when she got another one of her migraines. Dr. Mitchell shifted to cross his right leg over his left – for the third time in thirty minutes – and sighed.

"Miss Braeden," he began, before she cut him off.

"Sophia," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Of course – my mistake: Sophia, you seem out-of-sorts this morning. Is everything okay?" he asked.

_Would I be here if I were okay?_ She shook her head and said; "Everything is pretty much the same."

"Pretty much? What's changed?" he asked.

Should she tell him: about the dreams? Should she open up – just a little? No, she _shouldn't_, but she didn't know what to do anymore. She was getting dreams – they felt more like memories – and they involved a younger version of her and Ben. They were happier then. It didn't feel like something was missing.

She sighed and decided on what – she was sure – would be the biggest mistake of her short life. "Do you think dreams mean anything?" she asked.

"Well, I don't know. It depends on what you're dreaming about," he replied.

"It's nothing specific. They're always different dreams, but they always involve the same man," she said.

"Well, what do you feel in these dreams? Are they romantic?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No," she replied. "They aren't romantic at all. It's like… I don't know," she finished.

He laid the pen and paper on the table next to him and looked at her. "Sophia, have you been writing in your journal like I recommended?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. I haven't really had much to write," she said.

"Well, here's what I want you to do. Write in your journal whenever you dream of this man – or whenever you feel like it, really. Write down everything – no matter how insignificant you think it may be," he instructed.

"Are you going to read it?" she asked.

"I promise that I will never read it without your permission," he replied.

She nodded and stood from her chair. She shook his hand and he thanked her for a good session, and she met her aunt in the waiting room. She smiled when Sophie and the doctor exited the session room. She thanked the doctor, and led Sophie to the car with a gentle hand on her back. Sophie loved her aunt, but lately she was so overbearing. She wouldn't talk about the accident, and she wouldn't even mention Ben. She hardly ever mentioned her sister anymore – it was as if they never even existed. Only, they _had_ existed. They had existed so much, and all three of them had relied on each other – especially since the car accident that Sophie couldn't really remember.

"Do you want to go get some ice cream?" Michelle asked.

Sophie shook her head. "No, I'm okay," she said.

Michelle nodded. "Alright," she said. She waited a moment, seeming to weigh something in her mind, before saying; "So, I heard the school is having open tryouts for cheerleading. Are you thinking of trying out?"

Sophie looked at her. "What?" she asked.

"I was just thinking that maybe – if you got into your old routine – it might help," she replied.

"Help what – help me move on? Help me _get over it_?" she snapped.

"Sophie, you know that's not what I meant," Michelle defended.

"Well, what did you mean? Why are people so intent on me getting _back-to-normal_? Did it ever cross anyone's mind that I'm never going to be normal again? Why can't I just have time to wallow in it?" she ranted.

Michelle sighed as they pulled into the driveway. "Okay, I'm sorry. That was a bad idea. I'm just worried about you, sweetie," she said.

"I wish people would stop being worried about me. I don't need help, I just need time to heal at my own pace! No more doctors, no more dream journals, no more _getting-over-it_. Just… time," she said before getting out of the car and running inside. She ran to her room and locked the door. She needed some alone time with her thoughts and Led Zeppelin blasting through the headphones.

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

Sophie didn't know what time she had fallen asleep, but she woke up in her computer chair with a blanket covering her. She immediately felt bad for snapping at Michelle, who was probably just doing the best she could. She had just lost her older sister, and Sophie couldn't even pretend that she didn't know what it felt like. Losing her brother was what caused this mess in the first place. Yeah, losing her mom would have set her back for a while, but she could have managed it better. Losing her brother was like losing part of herself. He wasn't just her twin – he was her best friend. She knew that, no matter what, she would always have him at the end of the day.

Sophie looked at the clock – midnight. She sighed and took off her headphones. Her music had probably stopped playing hours ago, and her iPod was dead anyway. She put it on charge and went to the kitchen to get something to munch on. She wasn't necessarily hungry, but she should still probably eat something. She grabbed the cookies from the cabinet and sat on the counter. She was swinging her legs, but tried not to make too much noise. She didn't want to deal with questions as to why she was awake. The cookies made a loud crunching noise in her ears when she chewed, but she thought she could hear something else. It was a scratching sound, but she couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

She hopped off the counter and put the half-eaten cookie on a napkin. She looked around the kitchen to find what was making that noise, but she couldn't see anything. She hoped to God that it wasn't mice – that was the last thing they needed right now. How could it be mice, though? Her aunt Michelle had done nothing but clean to keep herself busy since the accident. The scratching noise stopped for a moment, but then returned. She listened carefully, and decided it was coming from the laundry room that was directly off of the kitchen. She knew this was a bad idea. She knew that when you heard a noise, you don't go check it out, but she needed to know what that noise was!

She peeked around the corner and saw nothing. She walked into the laundry room and checked everywhere. She checked in the washer, the dryer, and the laundry baskets. She moved everything around on the shelves, and checked for holes in the baseboard. There were no signs of mice – not even droppings. What the hell was going on? She decided that she was just sleep deprived, and turned to leave the room, but she saw something from the corner of her eye. It was quick – just a flash – but it was there. The room was unusually cold for early spring, and she couldn't help the shiver that ran through her. She waited a moment – not sure what she should do – and then walked towards the door. She glanced back and noticed something strange. There was something written on the notepad that hung on the wall.

_Soph: 43, -96_

"What the hell?" she murmured. She tore the paper from the pad and looked at it. The writing was scratchy and scrawled, almost desperately, across the paper. It looked like it had taken a lot of effort for the person – or whatever it was – to get it written down. There had to be a logical explanation for this, so she wadded it up and went back to her room. She weighed the options of keeping it, or throwing it away, and decided it was probably better to just toss it. She climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, before dozing off into a restless sleep.

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

_The wind was howling outside, and she couldn't sleep. Every time she looked at her closet, she noticed that it was cracked slightly. It seemed to keep opening, inch-by-inch, every time she looked at it. She pulled the covers over her head for a sense of security, but that feeling of safety was lost when a loud crack of thunder sounded through the room. It set her heart to racing, and she couldn't help the scream that tore from her throat. Her mom was working late, and it was just her and her brother at home. She heard her bedroom door creak open, and she prepared herself for the monster to get her. _

_She knew there were monsters. She didn't know how she knew this, but she knew. Her brother believed too, even if their mother told them they were being ridiculous. She tensed when she felt the edge of her bed dip, and practically jumped to the ceiling when a hand rested on her shoulder. When she realized that it was just her brother, she calmed down a little. _

"_Sophie, what's wrong?" he asked. _

_She shook her head. It was foolish for a twelve year old girl to be scared of thunder. "Nothing," she said. _

"_Are you sure?" he asked._

_She nodded and he just shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. I can't sleep, so I'm gonna go watch a movie," he said. _

_He moved to the door, and she glanced at her closet again. "Wait!" she said. _

_She grabbed her blanket and ran to catch up with him. They went to the living room and put the Lion King DVD in the player, and sat on the sofa. She felt safe with her big brother around. This all seemed so familiar, but she didn't know why. Yeah, they had loved the Lion King when they were little, but this time it felt like something was missing. She looked over to the armchair with a confused look. She saw something flicker there – like a memory manifesting. A man who looked to be about 30 appeared in the chair, smiling at them as they watched the movie. He was handsome, and he had made appearances in her other dreams as well. _

_She was overwhelmed with a feeling of safety and comfort as he faded away again, and she turned to her brother and said; "Thanks, Ben."_

"_Don't mention it, sis," he replied with a smile. _

_Suddenly, the rain didn't seem so frightening anymore._

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

**A/N; Thank you so much in advance for reading! This is set when Ben (and in this story, Sophie) are 16 years old. I've changed things about season 6, and seasons 7-9 didn't really happen. They boys are still hunting, and Cas is still with them, but I haven't gotten the chance to watch seasons 8 or 9 yet, so... **

**Everything will be explained as time goes on. I hope you'll enjoy my story! I have a tumblr for it. The url is findingherfamily {dot} tumblr {dot} com. Just replace the {dot} with a period, and you're good to go! :D Thanks again for reading. **


	2. Til the Siren Come Calling

_Are you my family?  
Can I stay with you a while?  
Can I stop off in your bed tonight?  
I could make you smile._  
"Siren Song"

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

Sophie removed the white apron around her waist and began wiping off the bar. It was almost time for them to close up, and she was exhausted. It was pouring the rain outside, and Sophie was singing to herself to drown out the thunder. Everyone had already left, the doors to the restaurant were locked, and it was actually quite peaceful, but it still allowed her thoughts to run wild. Her brother used to work here with her. He got tons of tips from the drunken ladies that frequented the bar, and he made sure that the drunken gentlemen kept their hands to themselves.

Sophie couldn't stop her mind from traveling to the message scrawled onto the piece of paper last night. She probably just dreamed it, or it was probably left by Ben a long time ago. Nobody ever checked that notepad – it was only hung there for emergencies. That note could have been there for months without someone noticing it, but it still didn't make sense. It was just two numbers – what did they even mean. She had been resisting the urge to dig the note out of her wastebasket all morning long, but she wouldn't give into the crazy.

She was sweeping next to the front door, where people had been tracking in dirt and mud all day long, when the temperature dropped dramatically. She could actually see her breath if she looked carefully enough. If that weren't enough to freak her out, she could hear the scratching noise again. It was coming from the bar area this time, so she went to check it out. When she got there, she saw her notepad lying out on the counter, and the pencil dropped next to it. She walked to the paper and saw a short message written on it.

_Find Dean._

This time the writing was easier to read, but it still looked like it took someone a lot of effort to write it. Why was the name Dean so familiar? She was certain that she knew nobody named Dean, but she was also positive that the name brought her comfort. She ripped the paper from the pad and crumpled it up before throwing it in the wastebasket. She sunk down to the floor and brought her knees to her chest – she was definitely going crazy now. She was seeing things. She should call her aunt, or Dr. Mitchell, or _someone_. She couldn't just let herself go crazy, but what was she going to do?

While she was sitting there, having her mini-episode, the wastebasket tipped over. She jumped up, and the crumpled paper rolled next to her foot. Fine, so her damaged-psyche wanted her to find Dean. That raised even more questions – the major question being _why_. Who was Dean – or _what_ was Dean? How was she going to find him when she wasn't even sure he existed? Then she remembered – the numbers. They weren't just any numbers. They weren't nice, round numbers either – they were specific.

She put the wastebasket back into place and ran out of the restaurant, and into the pouring rain. The paper that was telling her to find Dean was clutched tightly in her hand. Why, of all days, did she choose today to walk to work? She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but she was too out of shape for her liking. Maybe she should have tried out for cheerleading again. Her jacket and shoes were completely soaked by the time she arrived home ten minutes later.

She closed and locked the front door and ran straight to her room. She didn't even check to see if her aunt was home – the car was out front, so why would she? If she had, maybe she would have noticed that something was wrong when she didn't smell the usual Sunday dinner cooking. Maybe she would have noticed the slight odor of sulfur lingering in the foyer. Maybe she would have been unable to ignore that feeling she always had in the pit of her stomach – the one that always showed up when something went wrong - the one that had never failed her. Not yet.

The first thing she did was change her clothes, because there was no way she would be wearing her soaking wet clothing in the car. She grabbed the old, beaten up backpack from her closet, and began throwing things into it. She didn't know how long it would take her to find Dean, but she didn't really have time to think about it. She packed everything she could think of. By the time she finished, she had to get another backpack to fit everything into. Her closet was almost completely bare, and so were her drawers.

She carefully placed her laptop into its case, and grabbed the numbers from her trashcan. She opened it up and smoothed it out before tucking both papers into her pocket. She ran to grab her toothbrush from the bathroom, and called for her aunt.

"Aunt Michelle," she called. Silence was the only response she got, so she tried again. "Aunt Michelle!" Nothing – that was strange.

That was definitely strange. Her aunt had been overly attentive for the past four-and-a-half months, so for her to ignore Sophie now was odd. She would definitely be home, because she didn't go out in the rain. She hated the rain. Maybe she was sleeping – even though she had always been a very light sleeper. One creak of a floorboard was enough to wake her. Sophie dropped her toothbrush and rushed to her aunt's room. Her gut feeling was overwhelming. It was screaming at her, and trying to tell her that something was terribly wrong.

She opened the door to Michelle's bedroom, and was shocked at the state of it. Everything was thrown about – it looked like a twister had run through it. The dresser was knocked over, the mattress was halfway off of the bed, and the window was wide open. There were papers and books everywhere from where the bookshelf had tipped over. Michelle was a librarian – she would never do that to her bookshelf. Something was terribly wrong. Sophie kept calling out for Michelle, and she looked throughout the entire house.

She even went into her mom's room, which she hadn't been in since the accident. She was able to crack the door to her brother's room, but she couldn't enter it. It wouldn't have mattered anyway – she knew Michelle wasn't there. Michelle was gone, and now it was time for Sophie to leave too. She didn't know why, but somehow she just _knew_ that Dean – whoever he was – could help her.

Before she left for good, she ran to the storage room. There was a loose floorboard where her mother had kept something that Sophie had almost forgotten about. She lifted the small box from underneath the floorboard and opened it. The small handgun wasn't much, but she felt like she needed something for protection. She closed the box back and tucked it underneath her arm. After grabbing her bags and taking the keys off the mantle, she ran out into the rain, locked the front door, and threw her things into the car. The rain had eased, but not by much. She drove into the night, determined to find out what the hell was going on.

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

Sophie had driven longer than she ever had before. Normally, she never needed to leave the ten mile radius around her home. Tonight, however, she had just driven two hours straight. She probably would have stopped sooner, but she wanted to get out of the state first. She didn't know where she was going, but she headed west. She stopped to rest when she got to Gary, Indiana. She was exhausted, and she needed to see what the numbers meant. She was almost certain it was latitude and longitude. Even if they weren't, it couldn't hurt to try, right? She pulled into a little motel and booked a room for the night.

She only took one bag in the room with her, and her laptop. She plugged the laptop into the wall and brought up the search engine. The box with the gun in it was beside her on the nightstand. Now that she could stop and think clearly, she didn't even know why she had bothered with it. She had only shot a gun once when her mother made Ben and Sophie learn the basics of gun handling. She was okay – she at least hit the target – but she never followed through with it. Once her mother had hidden the gun away, she never really thought about it anymore.

She returned her focus to the search bar, and entered the numbers. That brought up the answer to 43-minus-96, a website about the movie _43_, and finally, Google Maps. She clicked on it, and it brought up information for Alton, Iowa.

"Dean is in Alton, Iowa?" she asked out loud.

Suddenly, without warning, her computer screen turned blue. She didn't know what was happening, so she tried pushing the power button. There was no change – the screen stayed blue. Something was terribly wrong. Before she could close the laptop, numbers began appearing on the screen. It was the same two numbers repeated, over and over again. It was still 43 and -96, but this time there was more.

_43.5, -96.7_

These numbers kept repeating all the way down her screen, until they suddenly stopped, and two words were typed at the very end. _Find Dean_. Sophie knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, so when the computer screen returned to normal, she typed in the new coordinates, and it took her to a map of Sioux Falls, SD. That was at least nine hours away – she could make it by morning. If she stayed here, she wasn't helping her aunt at all. She grabbed her things, making sure she took the gun with her, and put them in her car. She checked out of the hotel – much to her embarrassment – and walked back to her vehicle.

She slid into the passenger seat and locked the doors, but when she did, she got a massive headache out of nowhere. She tried to stay conscious, but the pain was too much, and she passed out with her head resting on the steering wheel.

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

_Sophie watched as Lisa got ready for her date, and tried putting makeup on to match her mother's. Sophie had spent all morning trying to talk her mom out of going on this date, but nothing was working. This was the third date, though. Her brother had explained to her what that meant. She couldn't do this to Dean – they loved each other! Dean was like a father to her, so how could she just let her mother go out on a date with another man? _

_She left her mom's room and went to find her brother. He was in his room, playing that stupid plant zombie game again. He looked up from his game with an annoyed expression. "There is such a thing as knocking, you know," he said. _

_She rolled her eyes. "Look, we have to stop mom from going on this date!" she said, trying to keep her voice down._

"_Don't worry. I've got it covered," he said._

"_What? How?" she asked._

"_I know just what to say to get him here. I just need him to pick up the damn phone already," Ben said._

_Sophie frowned. "Well, try it again. I know he'll pick up this time," she said. _

"_How do you know that?" he asked. _

_She shrugged. It was really just a feeling. Ben took his mom's phone from his pocket, and ignored Sophie when she asked where he got it. He pressed the redial button, and Sophie waited to see if he would pick up. He did. _

"_Finally! I've been calling," Ben said. There was a pause, and then he quickly said; "Something's wrong with mom." _

_Sophie's eyes widened and she shook her head. He shouldn't lie just to get Dean here. She waited, and listened to Ben finish the conversation. He hung up the phone and turned to her. "He'll call back in five minutes," he replied._

"_Ben, you shouldn't have lied," Sophie replied._

"_Hey, we need to get him here! Mom can't go on a third date – especially not with that guy! She's supposed to love Dean," he said._

"_She does! She's just forgetting it," Sophie replied. _

_Ben nodded. "Exactly, so we need to do whatever we can to make her remember," he said._

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

Sophie woke to a rapping on her window. The hotel manager was standing there with a confused expression. She rolled her window down, and he asked if she were okay.

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded, and he sent her on her way. She looked at her reflection in the pull-down mirror, and saw the line of blood that dripped from her left nostril. She wiped it away and focused on the road ahead. It took her almost ten hours, six cups of coffee, and blasting heavy rock music from her speakers, but she finally made it to Sioux Falls, SD. She pulled into the police station parking lot and turned off her car. If she wanted to find Dean, this would be her best bet. She walked into the building, and noticed immediately how empty it was. There was a receptionist, and the sheriff was in her office, but other than that…

"May I help you?" the receptionist asked.

Sophie tried her best to put on a friendly smile and said; "Yes, I'm trying to find someone."

"Okay, what's their name?" she asked.

"Dean," Sophie replied.

The receptionist raised her eyebrow. "Okay. Does Dean have a last name?" she asked.

Sophie cleared her throat. "Um…" she began, but was cut off by another voice.

"Hi. I'm Sheriff Mills. Did you say you were looking for Dean?" she asked.

Sophie nodded. "Yes ma'am," Sophie replied.

"Dean Winchester?" she asked.

Sophie wasn't sure if that was the one she was looking for, but she went with it. The name sounded too familiar to ignore. "Uh, yeah," she replied.

"What did you need him for, if you don't mind my asking," she said.

Sophie paused for a moment, but settled on saying; "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Sheriff Mills gave her a knowing look, and then nodded. "Well, you can try Bobby's place," she said.

"Okay, thank you," Sophie replied. "Uh, where's Bobby's place?"

The sheriff smiled and gave Sophie the directions. She sent her on her way, and told her to _be careful out there_. Sophie smiled and nodded, although she was confused as to what the sheriff meant when she said that. She hopped in her car and drove a few miles away, stopping when she pulled up to an old, run-down house. There were old, rusted cars piled up like cairns on a Scottish cliff edge. The sign said Singer Salvage Yard, and Sophie couldn't help but feel like she had seen this place before. The feeling of déjà vu was so strong, that it almost caused her to get a migraine.

She parked her car and walked up the creaky steps to the front door. Was she really going to do this? She had driven all this way, so she couldn't turn back now. Besides, Dean might be the only lead she could get on finding her aunt. She took a deep breath, and gave three sharp knocks on the door. Well, to her they were sharp knocks. In reality, you could probably barely hear them. Regardless, Sophie heard footsteps from inside, and her heart wouldn't calm down. What if this man was crazy? _He'll fit right in_ she thought.

The door opened to reveal an aging man – probably around fifty – with a greying beard and reddish-colored hair. Or, that's what Sophie thought it was. Most of it was hidden underneath a baseball cap. He was wearing a vest over a sweatshirt, which looked kind of odd, but she didn't comment. He looked at her with strange, all-seeing eyes, and she suddenly felt self-conscious.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

She tried to put her sweetest smile on her face, but she probably only succeeded in a grimace. "Hi. I'm looking for someone named Dean – the sheriff sent me here," she said.

One shaggy eyebrow rose, and he said; "Okay. What's your name?"

"I'm Sophia; Sophia Braeden," she replied.

He was good at hiding his emotions, but she thought she saw a flicker of shock in his eyes. He was quick to compose it, and he opened the screen door to invite her inside. "So, what sends you here looking for Dean?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I think it was my mom," she said.

"You say that like you're shocked," he replied.

She gave what sounded like a scoff mixed with a chuckle, and said; "Well, yeah, considering she's been dead for four months."

"What?" he asked quickly, before composing himself again.

"Look, I know you think I'm insane, and that's fine. To be honest, I think so myself, but these tell me otherwise," she said.

She pulled the two pieces of paper from her pocket and handed them to him. He took a look at them, like a trained professional, and nodded. "Well, Dean isn't here at this moment, but he'll be back soon. He just called to tell me he's about an hour south of here. You're welcome to wait, if you'd like," he said.

She thought about it for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah, okay. Thank you," she said.

"Not a problem – just make yourself at home. I don't mean to be rude, but you look exhausted. I'll be out back if you need me," he said.

She thanked him again and sat on the small sofa. There was a leather jacket draped over the arm of it, and it looked so familiar. She ran her hand over the softened brown leather, and a smile showed up on her face. It was a bittersweet – albeit small – smile, but it was real. It was the first time she had really smiled in months, and it felt good. Suddenly, she could hardly keep her eyes open, and she laid her head on the leather jacket. She took a deep breath in through her nose, and the familiar smell of leather, and mild cologne she couldn't place, made her light-headed. She drifted off to sleep, and for the first time in a long time, she slept peacefully.

* * *

-Finding Her Family-

* * *

**A/N; Thank you to squidgy78 for their review! :D It made me so happy. And thank you to the three followers (AndyTheBush, laughsnervously-what, and squidgy78), and one favorite-er (AndyTheBush)... **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am getting very excited for this. Just a friendly reminder that the tumblr link for this story is on my profile. It has a bunch of goodies for this story, and I think you'll enjoy it! It took me forever to find the theme that I wanted, so PLEASE check it out. :) **

**I love you all! **

***hearts*  
**


End file.
